Indonesia will begin giving booster shots to the general public on January 12 as Omicron spreads

As the Omicron strain spreads across Indonesia, health minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Monday (Jan 3) that the general public will begin receiving COVID-19 booster doses on January 12.

Booster doses were delivered to health workers in July, and the objective now is to cover all people who received their second vaccination more than six months ago.
Budi estimates that almost 21 million people will be covered under the booster programme this month.

"Mr President has determined that (the programme) will start on January 12," he stated.

Indonesia has immunised 42% of its 270 million people, utilising shots made by Sinovac Biotech, Pfizer/BioNTech, or Moderna in China.

Budi stated during a press conference that the country will require roughly 230 million booster doses, of which nearly half have been secured.

Since its discovery last month, the Omicron variety has infected over 150 persons in Indonesia, the bulk of whom were international travellers.

Six of the cases, according to Budi, were caused by local transmission in Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, and the island of Bali.

In July, Indonesia was hit by a devastating second wave of infections, but the number of cases has since dropped dramatically.

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